Thermostatic locking device



Aug. 26, 1941. H. SCHIROKAUER 2,253,315

THERMOS'iATIC LOCKING DEVICE Filed Oct. 20, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 yak/.1 scluhrl auw 1941. H. SCHIROKAUER 2,253,315

THERMOSTATIC LOCKING DEVICE Filed Oct. 20, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 26, 1941 THERMOSTATIC memo nnvroa Heinz Schirokauer, Stockholm, Sweden, minor to Gunnar Mannheimer, Skuruborg, Ektorp,

Sweden Application ottomzo, 193s, Serial No. 235,992

, In Sweden January 15, 1938 9 Claims. *(Cl. 200-116) which is free whereas its left hand end is rotatably mounted at I! on the oscillating end of a thermostat member IS. The thermostat member is The present invention relates to a locking device for the temporary inter-locking 01' two parts being normally movable in relation to one another in a certain direction of operation. The mutually movable parts are associated with .a number of abutments, staggered in the direction of operation and cooperating with a locking member, adapted to perform a reciprocating move-- ment under 'the control of a thermostat so as to engage said abutments in timed order of sequence and release the parts from one another in a stepwise fashion. The invention will flnd its application, inter 'alia, in automatic switches for staircase illumination systems in buildings and in all kinds of electric timed switches.

According to the present invention the locking member is adapted to swing about different axes of rotation in its reciprocating shifting movement.

The invention will be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, further features of the invention being then also mentioned. On the drawings- Fig. 1 is an embodiment of the invention, viewed in a certain projection, together with an accompanying diagram of connections.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the arrangement according to Fig. I viewed from the lines 22 and 3-4 respectively.

The Figs. 4 to 6 show different shifting positions of the device. Fig. 5a shows a modification.

According to the-drawings a cylindrical standard 2 is mounted on the base plate I and a sleeveshaped push-button 3 is mounted on the top thereof. Under. the action of a spring power 4 the button has a tendency to take up the raised position shown on the drawings. The button 3, is provided with two laterally projecting lips 5, 6 which are mutually parallel and spaced apart in a direction perpendicular to the direction of operation of the button. Their shape is visible more clearly in Fig. 3. According to the figure the two lips are provided with step-wise contours the steps of which are staggered in the direction of operation of the button. The lip 5 forms at its top an abutment l and an edgeshaped abutment 8 the object of which will be more closely describedhereina-fter. The abutment 8 can either have a more or less sharp edgeform or be rounded. The lip 6 is provided with an edge-shaped abutment 9 of similar natureas the abutment l and provided with a locking abutment Ill. The abutments I to Hi cooperate with a locking member H the right hand end of fixed by its'right hand end to a standard It. The locking member I i is held to bear against the abutments 8 and/or 8 respectively by means of a spring l5 fixed to the standard It. The button 3 is further provided with a contact piece I! cooperating with a spring contact ll mounted on the standard I9. Further the button 3 is provided with a contact blade 20 cooperating with two resilient contact blades 2|, 22.

To the one pole 23 of the electric supply line there is connected a heating winding 24 mounted on the thermostat member the other terminal of said winding being connected to the contact piece l8. According to Fig. 1 the main switch of the device formed by the parts 2|! to 22 governs the connection between the load '25, such as one or more incandescent lamps, and the other pole 26 of theelectric line.

It is assumed that the button electrically conducting material, at least in its lower portion, or from insulating material in which latter case the contact pieces l1 and 20.

must be electrica lly interconnected.

The device operates in the following manner. In their starting position the parts take up the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in which the switch 20 to 22 is open and the contacts I1 and I8 separated so that no current can pass the load 25 or the heating winding 24. when it is desired to connect the load 25 into circuit for a limited period the button 3 is pushed down to its lowermost position in which the locking mem- 1 ber ll snaps inover the abutment I and is brought to bear elastically against the abutment .9 according to Fig. 4. In this way the button 3 is retained in its pushed-down position in which the switch '20 to 22 and the contacts I! and I 8 are closed. Then the current passes two paths, 1. e. the one through the load 25 and contact blades 20 to 22 and the other through the heating winding 24, the contacts l1, l8 and the blades 20, 2| connected to the opposite pole 26. The thermostat member begins to be heated and bends itself successively to the position shown in Fig. 5 while rotating the locking member about the axis of rotation defined by the abutment 9. Then the abutment I is released and under the action oi the spring 4 the button I is raised so far that instead the abutment Ill comes into locking engagement with the locking member I I. The upward step of the button corresponds apparently 3 is made of" contact with the blades ii and 22.

the abutments I and II and is sumcient to separate the contacts l1 and il from one another whereas the blade 20 still remains in conducting While the load 25 remains in circuit the heating winding 24 is disconnected and the thermostat member cools down and starts to straighten itself again until the position according to Fig. 6 is reached while rotating the locking member ll about the abutment I. In this way the abutment I is released and the button I is raised on account of the spring 4 to the position shown in Fig. 2.

When the cooling of the thermostat member has.

proceeded down to normal temperature the "parts II and it take up the positions shown in Fig. 1 so that the device is restored to its starting position. E

Apparently the switching procedure can be reposted at any time both in the position shown in Fig. 1 as in an intermediate position between those indicated in Figs. 1 and 6. As will be understood from the above the locking member II will be brought to rotate in its reciprocating shifting movement about two different axes of rotation, i. e., the axes defined by the abutments I and l which are parallel with the direction of operation or the button I.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 3 the thermostat member is shown as an immediate carrier of the locking member. 01 course, there is no objection to arrange the parts according to Fig. 5a in which a thermostat member 21 of suitable design actuates the locking member 30 through the intermedium of a connecting means, such as a link 2! with an elastic adjustable setting device 29. The important feature is that the locking member is held on a definite level in regard to the one movable part and movable in a plane perpendicular to the direction of operation under the control of a spring power 32 so as to swing about the point II of application a of the connecting means 28 and bear elastically against one of the abutments, such as 8 or 33.

During its rotation about one of its axes of rotation the locking member is retained by the corresponding locking abutment onlywithin a definite angular field and as soon as this field has been passed in a definite direction the locking member allows the corresponding movable part to snapforward one step.

when comparing the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 6 it is seen that the locking member passes through its angular position shown in Fig. 6 to a complete release of the two movable parts from one another while the temperature of the thermostat member is higher than a normal temperature when there is no operation. As the cooling time of the thermostat is primarily decisive for the release period of the device such a period can be adjusted by setting the temperature prevailing in the moment of release according to Fig. 6. This can be achieved according to the present invention by making the thermostat member so adjustable in relation to the looking member and the abutment that the starting angle A, Fig. l, oi. the locking member can be varied;

What is claimed is:

1. A locking device for temporarily interlock ing a pair of relatively movable members comprising a plurality 01' looking abutments associated with one of said members and staggered in the direction of movement to permit stepwise relative movement of the members, means tending to move the members relative to one another, and a locking member adapted to perform a ro tary movement about diiferent axes of rotation so as to engage said abutments successively and thereby permit the members to move relative to one another in a stepwise fashion.

2. A locking device for temporarily interlocking a pair of relatively movable members comprising a plurality of locking abutments associated with one of said members and staggered in the direction of movement to permit stepwise relative movement of the members, means tending to move the members relative to one another, a thermostat, an electric resistance adapted to heat said thermostat, a locking member actuated by movement of said thermostat and adapted to perform a rotary movementabout different axes of rotation under the control thereof so as to engage said abutments successively and thereby permit the members to move relative to one another in a stepwise fashion, and a pair of electric contacts carried by said members for energizing the circuit leading to said electrical resistance.

3. A delayed action switch comprising a pair of relatively movable members, a plurality of locking abutments associated with one of said members and staggered in the direction of movement to permit stepwise relative movement of the members, means tending to move said members relative to one another, a thermostat, an electric resistance adapted to heat said thermostat, a locking member actuated by movement of said thermostat and adapted to perform a rotary movement about difierent axes of rotation under the control thereof so as to engage said abutments successively and thereby permit the members to move relative to one another in a stepwise fashion, a pair of electric contacts carried by said members for energizing the circuit leading to said electrical resistance, and a second pair of electric contacts carried by said members for energizing a circuit controlled by said switch.

4. A locking device for temporarily interlocking a pair of relatively movable members according to claim 1 characterized by the fact that the axes of rotation of the locking member are defined by narrow abutments extending parallel to the direction of movement oi. the relatively movable members against which the locking member bears elastically.

5. A locking device for temporarily interlocking a pair of relatively movable members according to claim 1 characterized by the fact that the axes of rotation of the locking member are defined by narrow abutments extending parallel to the direction of movement of the relatively movable members against which the locking member bears elastically and that the locking abutments are so arranged with respect to the abutments against which the locking member bears that in rotation of the locking member about its axes of rotation it engages the abutment on the corresponding movable member only within a definite angular field and in its rotation beyond such field permits the corresponding movable member to move one step in its direction of movement.

6. A locking device for temporarily interlocking a pair of relatively movable members comprising a plurality of locking abutments associated with one of said members and staggered in the direction of movement to permit stepwise relative movement of the members, means tending to move the members relative to one another, a thermostat, an electric resistance adapted'to heat said thermostat, a locking member actuated by movement of said thermostat and adapted to perform a rotary movement about different axes of rotation under the control'thereof so as to engage said abutments successively and thereby permit the members to move relative to one another in a stepwise fashion, the thermostat being so arranged in relation to the locking member as to actuate the lockingmember to completely release the relatively movable members while the temperature of the thermostat is above its normal temperature when inoperative, and a pair of electric contacts carried by said members for energizing the circuit leading to said electrical resistance. 7. A locking device for temporarily interlocking a pair of relatively movable members comprising a plurality of locking abutments associated with one of said members and staggered in the direction of movement to permit stepwise relative movement of the members, means tending to move the members relative to one another, a thermostat, an electric resistance adapted to heat said thermostat, a locking member actuated by movement of said thermostat and adapted to perform a rotary movement about different axes of rotation under. the control thereof so as to engage said abutments successively and thereby permit the members to move relative to one another in a stepwise fashion, the thermostat being adjusted with respect to the locking member and the locking abutments associated with the relatively movable members so that the initial angular position of the locking member can be varied, and a pair of electric contacts carried by said members for energizing the circuit'leading to said electrical resistance.

8. A locking device for temporarily interlocking a pair of relatively movable members comprising a plurality of locking abutments associated with one of said members and staggered in the direction of movement to permit stepwise relative movement of the members, means tending to move the members relative to one another, a thermostat fixedly mounted at one end and free at the other, an electric resistance adapted to heat said thermostat, a locking member rotatably connected to the thermostat adjacent its free end actuated by movement of said thermostat and adapted to perform a rotary movement about different axes of rotation under the control thereof so as to engage said abutments successively and thereby permit the members to move relative to one anotherv in a stepwise fashion, and a pair of electric contacts carried by said members for energizing the circuit" leading to said electrical resistance.

' 9. A locking device for temporarily interlocking a pair of relatively movable members comprising a plurality of locking abutments associated with one of said members and staggered inthe direction of movement to permit stepwise relative movement of the members, means tending to move the members relative to one another,

a thermostat fixedly mounted at one end and free at the other, an electric resistance adapted to heat said thermostat, a locking member rotatably connected to the thermostat through a linkage actuated by movement of said thermostat and adapted to perform a rotary movement about different axes of rotation under the control thereof so as to engage said abutments successively andthereby permit the members to move relative to one another in a stepwise fashion, and a pair of electric contacts carried by said members for energizing the circuit leading to said electrical resistance.

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